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“You’re upsetting Chastity,” I lecture her. “She’s barely been awake for a few minutes, and you’re already threatening to send her away, as if she’s done something wrong. She’s the victim!”
Mother Cross pushes me into a quiet area, scowling. “You don’t need to remind me. I saw the bruises, Father Levi. May I also remind you of your duties as a teacher, and how inappropriate it was for you to touch her. Chastity doesn’t need outside temptations when she’s working on her redemption,” she hisses.
I’m starting to realize that everything has been twisted against Chastity. Not bothering to contradict her, I bow my head in agreement. “Chastity needs to heal around people who know her. I will do everything in my power to get you to see that.”
Mother Cross shakes her head and walks away from me, muttering under her breath, and I know I’m going to need to force her hand.
Checking on Chastity through the window, I see she’s asleep. Turning to find a quiet corner to call Chastity’s brother, I almost bump into Bastian.
“Hey, you good?” I ask, worriedly. This has been hard on all of us, especially the guys, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to them.
“Yeah, I overheard you though,” he murmurs, ears tinting pink with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to, but Mother Cross was really pissed off.”
Nodding, I stave off my impatience to focus on him. It’s my job, and I care about them. “She is, but she’s gonna be infuriated when I pull the rug out from under the old bag,” I tell him, making sure my voice isn’t above a whisper.
“Can she really take Chastity away from us? I could hear the monitors from her room freaking out, and that only happens when she’s upset,” Bastian says.
Shaking my head, I tell him the truth. “I’m not going to let her. Be ready, I may need help to pull this off, okay? Our Eve must stay with her Adams.”
Relaxing fractionally, Bastian nods. “Yeah, I’ll let the guys know. We’ll be ready to do whatever for Chastity.”
Nodding, I walk deeper into the hospital, knowing I have to keep this conversation private. The guys will watch Chastity, and update me with any changes now that Bastian has seen me walk away.
Finding an open door to a storage room, I step in and close the door, leaning against the wall carefully. At least this way, no one will overhear.
Connecting the call to Jacob, I wait, knowing he’ll answer.
“It’s about time. I’ve been waiting for your call,”he barks down the line and I grimace. I don’t have time for his bullshit.
“I beg your pardon? Now you care? She’s been taken advantage of over the years, and forgotten in a mental institution, and you didn’t once lift a finger for your sister. You let your family ruin her life. You don’t have a leg to stand on with your demands from me,” I tell him.
“You forget who you’re speaking to, I see. I advise that you watch your tone. I’m still your leader,”theDragon growls.
Straightening my spine, I refuse to back down. I know I’m right, and he’ll have to agree. “And you have a lot of explaining to do. How did your father get your sister to leave Holy Cross? Chastity is covered in bruises, and she just woke up from a medically-induced coma. We could have lost her,” I roar.
“I know, okay. I fucking know. I know our father is a sanctimonious piece of shit, and he has a lot of explaining to do. I don’t know what’s going on, but I thought Chastity was at school all of this time. She’d only leave if they promised her something she couldn’t refuse, and that’s her daughter. From what I understand, Angel has been at home all weekend too. Let me do some digging, Levi. I know I’ve failed Chastity many times, but I care about her too.”
Struggling to get a hold of my anger, I close my eyes. I can hear my blood roaring in my ears, and a little voice whispers,we could still lose her. The danger is out there.
“Jacob, with all due respect, don’t fuck this up. We need something I can use to blackmail Mother Cross into letting Chastity stay at the Academy. While I have medical proxy, I need to know the possibility of blowing up her reputation will get her to back off. She wants to use the suicide attempt as an excuse to hide her away at the mental institution again. If there’s a possibility that she can prove Chastity is a harm to herself, I can’t protect her there,” I tell him. “I know The Locked Souls Society’s reach is long, but I don’t think anyone wants her back there. She’s too important.”
I can hear Jacob moving on the other side of the phone, and the slamming of a door. “As important as she is to the Society, she’s my fucking sister. I’m going to find out what’s going on, and then we’ll take care of my grandmother. Chas isn’t going anywhere except back to Holy Cross. Now that you all have your heads out of your asses, I’m counting on you to take care of her. Is that understood?”
Letting out a small sigh of relief, I raise up a quick prayer of thanks. Dragon could have removed me from my post, or punished me for my insolence. I can only be grateful for his emotional response for his sister. “Absolutely, Dragon. Please be in touch.”
Jacob hangs up without saying another word, and I roll my eyes. Some things never change.
Chapter6
I’m not going to lie, after I left Levi, I waited until he walked away before sneaking into Chastity’s room. Now, I watch as she sleeps. My eyes close as I listen to the beeps of the machines around us, my hand holding hers.
“Bast?” says a small voice, and my lashes flutter open to see the most beautiful hazel eyes I’ve prayed to see.
“Hmm. Hey, beautiful,” I murmur, forgetting myself. I thought I’d never see her again, it’s dumb to play it safe around her.
“Hi,” Chastity says with an exhausted smile.
“You scared the shit out of us, Chas,” I tell her, scooting closer to her.
